The joint committee of Parliament examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill submitted its report to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday. The panel adopted the report by a majority vote, with changes suggested by members of the ruling BJP. Opposition members, who submitted dissent notes, called the exercise an attempt to destroy Waqf boards and termed the bill an attack on the constitutional rights of the Muslim community.
The Archaeological Survey of India informed the JPC that 280 protected monuments have been listed as Waqf properties.
Several petitions were filed in the apex court challenging the Act, contending that it was discriminatory towards the Muslim community and violated their fundamental rights.
President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which has sparked controversy and legal challenges. The Bill, passed by Parliament after heated debates, has been criticized by opposition parties as "anti-Muslim" and "unconstitutional". The government, however, maintains that the reform will benefit the Muslim community. Several petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Bill, alleging discrimination against Muslims and undermining their religious autonomy. The Bill repeals the Mussalman Wakf Act, 1923, and introduces restrictions on Waqf properties and their management, which have raised concerns about the impact on the Muslim community.
Congress MP Mohammad Jawed and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi have challenged the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the Supreme Court, arguing that it violates constitutional provisions. The petitions claim the bill imposes arbitrary restrictions on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the religious autonomy of the Muslim community. They also allege that the bill discriminates against Muslims by imposing restrictions not present in the governance of other religious endowments. The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, with the petitioners arguing that it introduces limitations on the creation of Waqfs based on the duration of one's religious practice, mandates inclusion of non-Muslim members in Waqf administrative bodies, and shifts key administrative functions to government officials, thereby diluting the autonomy of Waqf management.
A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, claiming it was a "blatant intrusion" into the rights of a religious denomination to manage its own affairs in the matter of religion. The plea, filed by Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, argues that the amendments would distort the religious character of Waqfs and irreversibly damage the democratic process in their administration. Several other petitions have been filed in the apex court challenging the validity of the bill, including those by Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, and AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.
'Muslims in Bihar under Nitishji's rule are safest than anywhere else.'
A three-judge Supreme Court bench will hear petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, on April 16. The petitions, including those by politicians and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, were filed in the top court challenging the validity of the newly-enacted law. The Centre has filed a caveat in the apex court, seeking a hearing before any order is passed.
'When voting clause by clause on Waqf came up in the JPC, the TDP and JD-U supported the BJP on each and every clause.'
Opposition MPs, some of whom have given their dissent, slammed the exercise as undemocratic, claiming that they were given little time to study the final report and frame their dissent notes.
Floor leaders of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance met on Monday ahead of the start of Parliament's winter session and decided to raise the issue of alleged corruption in the Adani Group and demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the matter.11111111111111111111111111
One fallout of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification will be reflected in the Opposition's role in Parliament and related institutions.
Women are a minuscule minority of those arrested under the IT Act.
A Twitter spokesperson said they remain committed to working with the Government of India and that they respect the sensitivities involved, duly acknowledging the letter.
Opposition and members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G on Wednesday demanded the ouster of chairperson P C Chacko for being "highly partisan" and asked Speaker Meira Kumar to replace him with a new chief. The JPC has 30 members, including Chacko.
The draft report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam is critical of the decision taken by the then National Democratic Alliance government to grant concessions to telecom operators over non-recovery of "huge amount" of licence fee despite opposition by then Telecom Minister Jagmohan.
Citing former telecom minister A Raja's communication to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G scam, Bharatiya Janata Party member Yashwant Sinha on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking him to appear before the committee, following the allegations levelled against him. In his letter, Sinha said any hesitation on the PM's part to appear before the JPC will prove that he has "something to hide".
Against the backdrop of alleged collusion between Central Bureau of Investigation prosecutor and an accused in 2G scam, CBI chief Ranjit Sinha today insisted that it has not "polluted" the probe into the case but admitted that the agency's reputation suffers by such incidents.
With the prime minister rejecting his demand for appearing before the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha has alleged that Manmohan Singh gained "cheap publicity" by announcing at the Congress conclave that he was ready to appear before the Public Accounts Committee when he did not intend to do so.
Describing the functioning of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G as "scandalous", Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram appear before it for the truth to come out.
Communist Party of India-Marxist member in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum allocation Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday supported calling former Telecom Minister A Raja as a witness before the panel saying it will help reaching "closer to the truth".
A big question mark looms over whether Bharatiya Janata Party members in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum allocation case will attend Thursday's meeting with the Opposition still adamant that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram should be examined by the panel.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam is set to get a fresh extension with the Lok Sabha on Monday unanimously adopting a resolution to this effect.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress were on Wednesday locked in a confrontation in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam with members of the main opposition storming out of its meeting over the issue of calling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram and threatening to quit from it.
Sources in the JPC said that panel Chairman P C Chacko is set to tell Raja that instead of appearing before JPC as a witness, he can submit a "rebuttal note" on the statement made by Attorney General G E Vahanvati before the Committee that the controversial press note regarding 2G licences was changed at the last minute by the former telecom minister in 2008 with a different pen.
Though a first time Member of Parliament, All India Congress Committee spokesperson Manish Tewari has a long association of nearly 31 years with the Congress, since joining its youth wing in 1981. The 47-year-old leader was seen as a strong defence line of the Congress in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party's onslaught.
Amid demands for calling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram as witnesses before the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G, Bharatiya Janata Party members in the panel on Thursday once again abstained from its proceedings. During the last meeting of the JPC on October 11, the BJP members had stayed away after accusing JPC Chairman P Chacko of failing to finalise the list of witnesses and include the prime minister and Chidambaram in it.
The drafting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee report on 2G scam could be delayed with key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam insisting on calling former Telecom Minister A Raja as a witness.
Bharatiya Janata Party members on Tuesday walked out of the proceedings of a Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam, claiming that they were not allowed to raise the issue of finalising the list of witnesses.
On August 22 also, BJP members had walked out of the JPC meeting alleging that Congress members had used foul language when they sought inclusion of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the finalised list of witnesses to be called before the JPC.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G scam will resume its proceedings next week when former Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar appears before it as one of the 'essential witnesses' before the panel starts writing the draft report.
Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam P C Chacko on Wednesday ruled out summoning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to depose before the panel, saying there was no such precedent.
The issues of recall of Gujarat governor and dismissal of Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh created turmoil in Parliament on Tuesday leading to adjournment of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha till noon.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum scam has deferred its October 3 meeting, in view of the Lok Sabha Speaker's efforts to persuade Bharatiya Janata Party, members who have threatened to quit the panel alleging bias on his part, its chairman P C Chacko said on Saturday.
Dissatisfied with the reply about non-submission of the controversial March 25 note on 2G spectrum allocation before the panel examining the issue, non-United Progressive Alliance members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Monday asked the finance ministry to provide input documents that helped its compilation.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was aware of the contents of the controversial 2G note which was issued as an office memorandum at the insistence of the Prime Minister's Office, a top official told the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Thursday.
The Left parties on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh for "virtually justifying" that a Joint Parliamentary Committee inquiry into the 2G spectrum scam was not required but was accepted by the government only to pacify the opposition.
Miffed at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks that Parliament should not pre-judge the 2G issue, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Tuesday said the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the matter should be wound up.
As the crucial Budget session of Parliament begins, the UPA has a major chance to correct course. If it wastes it, it risks disaster, says Praful Bidwai.
After promising support to the United Progressive Alliance government over the 2G Spectrum controversy, Tirnamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee took the Congress by surprise when she joined the Opposition in their demand for a joint parliamentary committee on Monday.
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